8 Reasons to Practice Scales

I know, I know… playing scales over and over again is boring and may seem pointless. But here are 8 good reasons to work on scales every day. First, here’s the obvious stuff:
1. Playing Scales helps improve finger dexterity, strength and speed of your fingering hand.
2. Playing Scales helps improve the accuracy, speed and efficiency of your picking hand.
And, here are some less obvious, equally important reasons…
3. Playing Scales helps ingrain important note positions. For example, the location of root notes. Especially if you practice them further up the neck.
4. Playing Scales helps learn the fretboard. First, at the open position, but then as you progress, further up the neck.
5. Playing Scales helps memorize note sequences often used in melodies and accompaniments (think major scales, minor scales, pentatonic scales, etc.)
6. Playing Scales in different keys (rather than sticking to the easy keys all the time) gives you a deeper understanding of the fretboard, and increases your versatility as a player.
7. Playing Scales helps train your ear to recognize correct (or incorrect) note sequences.
8. Playing a variety of scales improves your understanding of practical music theory as it applies to your playing.
I’m sure there are more reasons to practice scales. When practicing scales think about what you are